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Getting 'unstuck' together. Meet Wire

Submitted by

Christelle L. Del Prete

,

January 11, 2018

| Photos
by

Molly Wald

Wire, a sweet but extremely introverted horse, arrived at Best Friends full of insecurity. But that’s no problem because through positive training, she’s gaining confidence and some useful new skills, something we specialize in at the Sanctuary’s area for horses — appropriately named Horse Haven.

Type “how to break a horse to ride” into a Google search and you’ll find plenty of quick-fix methods to help you succeed on that first ride or overcome previous failures. But the best horse training methods are not those that use dominance and force to get a horse to comply (like horse breaking). The most successful methods allow time for a horse to build a trusting and cooperative relationship with her handler. And that’s what’s happening with Wire and her trainers at Horse Haven.

Wire is an introvert, which means that her lack of confidence can cause her to freeze and get stuck both physically and mentally. While it's part of the natural "fight, flight or freeze" response, freezing doesn’t release the pressure. Instead, it builds until, at some point, it gets to be too much and causes Wire to explode by bucking or bolting.

Wire had never learned to feel comfortable with someone on her back. She’d tense up and refuse to move forward when someone was sitting in the saddle. That refusal to move, no doubt, prompted the rider to put more pressure on her to go forward. But when Wire couldn't take any more pressure, she'd explode and buck the rider off. That’s why she was brought to Best Friends for help.

Here at the Sanctuary, Wire receives loving care and skilled rehabilitation that will help her with the next big step of her life. That's the one where we can load her into a trailer and she moves to her forever home as a partner and friend to a very lucky horse person.